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Region, Age and Availability of Health Services: the Case of General Practical medicine in Czechia

Publication at Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Faculty of Science |
2020

Abstract

The age structures of the population and of the providers of health services are significant factors that influence the availability of these services. The aim of the paper is to identify where the biggest problems with ensuring the availability of the selected segment of health services at the regional level in Czechia could occur as a result of the age structure of the population and physicians.

This selected segment of health services focused on here is general practice. The main prerequisite for this work is that areas with a higher proportion of elderly people and areas with a higher proportion of older physicians may face significant difficulties with ensuring the provision of necessary health care.

For this purpose, a typology of 'catchment areas' was created from which to define potentially problematic areas. The research revealed significant regional differences in the age structure of the population and physicians.

Moreover, the current distribution of GP supply (measured as the number of FTE general practitioners) is relatively even in Czechia, but the availability of these services may be influenced by the departure of physicians from the system because of their age, specially in rural regions.